Microchip Age Helps To Prevent Auto Theft With Computerized Security Alarms Now Available, It`s Easy For Car Owners To Make It Tough For Someone To Steal Their Cars. You Also Should Remember To Keep The Doors Locked And Keys Out Of The Ignition.

June 19, 1985|By Marshall Schuon, The New York Times

When they smashed the Cadillac`s window, the thing that kept them from stealing the car was my Chapman lock. It didn`t keep them from rifling the glove box, of course, but the loss was small, thanks to the lock, which attaches to an armored cable and bolts the hood at the same time that it shorts out the ignition.

The only thing the glove compartment yielded was the car`s payment book, and it served the hoodlums right. Still, I was pretty unhappy with the broken window and the time and money that it cost for repairs.

All this distressing stuff occurred some time back, but the memory sticks. Since then, automotive security devices have come a long way, and while I am still a firm believer in that simple mechanical lock, it can`t be denied that the age of the microchip has made life tougher for car thieves.

One of the new electronic tricks comes from Fox Marketing Inc., a company that made its name with radar detectors. Joe Everson, marketing vice president for Fox, is one who believes in knowing the enemy.

``Nothing is going to stop a professional from taking a car, if he`s intent on getting it,`` he said. ``What you want to do is slow him down, make it easier for him to take somebody else`s car.``

That may not be charitable, but it is understandable. And to that end, Everson said, an add-on security system is the thing to have. He has a proprietary interest here, but his point is well taken. While the more theft- prone cars have factory alarms, would-be thieves are all too familiar with them, and an after-market system adds the element of surprise.

A microprocessor is the heart of Fox`s new Ultra Alarm, and there is a list of options that include remote control to arm and disarm the system; a ``pager`` that sets off a beeper on your belt if anyone tampers with the car while you are away; and a backup battery to thwart anyone who cuts the main power cables to defeat the factory alarm.

The ease of installation allowed by today`s modular systems also decreases the cost. Good alarms still range upward from $300, but that is a small amount, given the price of today`s cars, particularly those at the top of the thieves` hit parade.

A recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows that Volkswagen`s Rabbit convertible was the 1984 model with the highest rate of insurance-theft claim. Only one domestic car, the Cadillac Brougham sedan, made the Top 10 list, and it was last. According to the study, claims for the Rabbit ragtop occur at more than 15 times the average rate for all 1984 models.

Corvette, which had traditionally owned the most-stolen honors, was absent from the list, but the trade group said that claim frequency for it was about average, and that the redesigned sports car was too new to judge accurately.

Government statistics show a slight drop in thefts in recent years, although more than a million cars were reported stolen in 1983, the last year for which national figures are available. Unfortunately, the statistics also indicate a sharp decline in the rate at which cars are recovered.

The national average works out to something like one car stolen every 31 seconds. The experts say, too, that accessories or contents are stolen from 7,000 cars a day.

Eventually, the problem may be solved through electronic gadgets, such as an invention tested recently in Massachusetts. It is a small steel box that can be hidden in a car to send an inaudible signal when activated by a police computer and radio network.

A cruiser equipped with a tracking unit can pick up the signal two or three miles away, lock in and trace it. In 550 tests in the past four months, according to the Massachusetts state police, the tracking cruisers found the hidden car every time.

Even without sophisticated devices, though, there are precautions that can save you grief. It seems obvious that the car should be locked, but records show that four of five of all missing cars have been left unlocked, and one in five had the key in the ignition.

Packages, luggage and briefcases that are tempting to the light-fingered should be kept out of sight, and the car should be parked in a well-lighted place. Although a third of all thefts occur in daylight, dusk to midevening is the peak time for theft. And a car is more likely to be stolen on a Monday or Friday night than at any other time.

At home, the experts say, put the car in the driveway or garage, not on the street. According to an insurance industry study, your car is most likely to be stolen while parked on the street in front of the house. If you are forced to park on the street every day, they add, be sure that you don`t regularly leave the car in the same place.

And one other thing -- don`t leave the registration in the glove box. A registration card makes it easier for the thief to sell the car. Even if he is stopped by the police, he can always say he is you.